


A Little Competition

by BlackBarBooks



Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M, Short, ZoSan Christmas Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2014-12-22
Packaged: 2018-03-02 23:52:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2830571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackBarBooks/pseuds/BlackBarBooks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>-Short fic written for the ||ZoSan Christmas exchange||.- When Sanji hears that Zoro got him a great christmas present, he doesn't want Zoro to outdo him, but what kind of present could he get someone like Zoro?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Competition

Sanji pushed his shopping bag higher up on his shoulder, mentally going over his shopping list as he walked through the snowy streets. He had presents for everyone except Brook and the moss brain. He was thinking something along the lines of a new teacup for Brook, and he'd just get Zoro a bottle of booze.

 

This whole "Crissmash" tradition this island had was bizarre. The entire crew had instantly been drawn in by the multicolored lights on every building and well dressed people rushing by with tall towers of beautifully wrapped gifts. When Luffy asked what was going on, a passerby had explained this island's gift-giving tradition, and Luffy had decided they would all take part in it.

 

Now there was a tree inside his poor kitchen, decorated by various ribbons and sparkling  orbs that Usopp and Robin had made together. they had even attempted to wrap lights around the branches, right until Robin stated that she "hoped the tree wouldn't catch on fire and burn down the Sunny.” Now Franky was in charge of the lights.

 

Sanji located the town's nicest porcelain store, mentally checking Brook off the list after finding a cup and a matching saucer with a nice pattern of music notes. Walking out the door, he almost dropped the box containing Brook‘s gift when Usopp literally ran into him.

 

"Sanji?" Usopp took a step back, watching Sanji frown and tuck his package into the bag. "Agh! I was going to give him a cup too!" The long nose ran a hand through his hair in frustration, already wracking his brain for another gift idea.

 

"You could give him some nice tea." Sanji suggested, and Usopp sighed in frustration.

 

"Robin already bought that. I guess I'll go for my backup idea." Usopp shrugged, pulling out a list and writing something down. "So do you have all the presents yet?"

 

"All but the mossbrain's." Sanji said smugly. "-And that's easy. I'll just get him a bottle of booze."

 

Usopp gave Sanji an unimpressed look. "That's all?"

 

"The idiot is lucky I'm even getting him anything." Sanji frowned. "He said this whole 'crissmash' thing was stupid, he's probably not getting me anything."

 

"It's Christmas." Usopp corrected, hands on his hips. "And Zoro DID get you a present. I was there with him when he bought it." 

 

Sanji stood still, staring at Usopp and completely blocking all traffic into and out of the store, right until a little old man hit him on the head with a cane to get him to move. He stepped aside, grabbing Usopp by the shoulder, bringing him close and glaring at him.

 

"You're lying,” Sanji accused, glaring daggers at the sniper, who rolled his eyes at him, not intimidated in the slightest.

 

"No, and it was a NICE present too." Usopp frowned. "So if you just give him a bottle of booze, you'll look cheap."

 

Sanji's eyes widened slightly. He brought Usopp's head closer by force, his arm almost wrapped around the sniper's neck. "What did he get me?"

 

"I'm not telling! That's not how it works!"

 

"Come ON, Usopp, I can't LOSE to that idiot!" Sanji frowned, but Usopp persisted, turning away and putting his hands over his ears.

 

"Not listening!" Usopp walked away singing, and a few concerned people gave the loudly singing long nose a wide berth as he made his way down the street. "You just have to spend a little time finding something nice like the rest of us!" 

 

Sanji was left frowning on the edge of the street, fumbling through his pockets for a cigarette and his lighter. He scraped the lighter a few times, shaking it to get the damn thing to work before he lit himself a cigarette, blowing smoke into the cold winter air.

 

Damn. This complicated things a lot. He couldn't let Zoro out do him in front of the entire crew, but he had no idea what he could give the swordsman that wasn't alcoholic. Sanji trudged his way through the snowy street, brow furrowed as he tried to think of something the swordsman needed or liked.

 

The first thing Sanji could think of were swords. There was no way he was giving Zoro actual swords, especially since the bastard already had three of them, and the only blades that could handle Zoro's heavy caliber attacks were named blades, and the going rate for those was in seven digits. Sanji frowned. Only Zoro could go shopping for blades and somehow come back with two meito and not spend a single coin.

 

Zoro used to clean his blades though. He might need some equipment for that. Sanji took a turn to the nearest weapon shop, shouldering the door open and watching Brook accept his purchase from the startled and confused salesman.

 

"Skeleton? With an afro?" The man handed the bag over, blinking as if he was trying to clear his vision. "I have been working too much."

 

"Thank you very much." Brook accepted the bag politely, turning around to see  Sanji entering the store. "Ah, Sanji-san, is your shopping going well?" the skeleton smiled, or at least he sounded like he was smiling. 

 

"Only one gift left, the moss brain is last on my list." Sanji walked closer, eyeing the shelves.

 

"Ah! How delightful! I myself just bought his present myself! I bought some nice oil for his swords, one swordsman to another and all that, yohoho!" Brook laughed, dangling his bag. "What are you going to get him?"

 

Sanji grimaced, damn it. "I haven't decided."

 

"I wish you luck, Sanji-san. I still have to buy some panties, excuse me." Brook bowed to make sure he didn't hit his head when he walked out the door, leaving Sanji rubbing tiredly at his temples in the middle of the weapon store.

 

Damn. Now what? What did Zoro like? Other than booze, that is. Sanji tapped his fingers on his nose, thinking back to see what sort of things Zoro liked. He liked weightlifting; but all the weights that would be of any use to Zoro were way too heavy for him to get back to the ship himself.

 

Sanji left the store without buying anything, turning his back to the wind to light himself a cigarette. The wind kept snuffing out his light, and he huffed in frustration as snow twirled around him.

 

If he couldn't get Zoro anything sword related, he might as well attempt to buy Zoro something a bit nicer to wear than his ratty old-man clothing. Would it kill the idiot to wear something a bit more fashionable? Like that sleeveless shirt he wore at Skypiea, where did that even come from? Was it even Zoro's?

 

Sanji walked towards a store selling male clothing, and then he hesitated. He had no idea what size Zoro was. The bastard was broad and his arms were thick and muscular, his overall body shape was way different from Sanji's own. He'd make a fool of himself if he bought Zoro a shirt that didn't even reach down his chest.

 

He couldn't get Zoro pants either, the swordsman's legs were thick  and muscular, and Sanji had never seen Zoro wear anything other than his black stretchy pants. Did Zoro even WANT to wear anything else?

 

Sanji sighed. He wouldn't mind seeing Zoro wearing some tight pants, but that was a guilty little thought he'd take to his grave. Sanji shook those treacherous thoughts from his mind, stomping down the street with a newfound determination. It was only 8pm, he would have time to visit every single store. There had to be at least one that had something for Zoro.

 

__________________

 

Sanji returned to the Sunny with three bottles of fancy alcohol and a broken pride. He hadn't found anything better; Zoro was going to show him up so hard with whatever it was that he bought. Sanji returned to the ship last and snuck into the kitchen to place all his presents under the tree, as Luffy had told them was tradition.

 

Why, though? What was the point or arranging gifts under a tree and letting them sit there until morning? Why not just open them right away?

 

He scattered his carefully labeled gifts around the base of the tree, secretly looking for his gift from Zoro. It wasn't there, and all of Zoro's other gifts were there! Was the gift huge? Was the gift not wrapped yet? Sanji tied all three bottles together with a ribbon, hiding it far in the back of the dried food shelf in the storage.

 

He'd just do something for Zoro instead. He'd cook him some really nice snacks to go with it, maybe some rice balls, too. He'd present it all to him on a platter with a bow or something equally tasteless. If it was really intricate snacks and quality booze, Zoro might believe this was his plan all along.

 

Sanji went to bed early, planning on getting up at 4am to get started on Zoro´s snacks. Zoro wasn't in his bunk, so he probably had first watch. That would mean Zoro should be in bed by 4 am, and wouldn't walk in on him making his present. Perfect.

 

When Sanji got up to go to the kitchen five hours later, the scent of thawing pine and cleaning supplies flooded his nostrils, making his eye water, and he coughed, glancing over his sparkling kitchen.

 

It hadn't been this clean after dinner. They'd all been in such a rush to buy presents before the stores closed they had even left some plates in the sink. Now the kitchen was looking like no one had ever used it.

 

 Sanji frowned, rushing over to check all the cupboards and drawers, but nothing was out of place. A small check of everything revealed that there wasn't a single pan or pot misplaced, and the inside of the massive oven was so clean that it looked like new.  Zoro's present was still in place too, hidden behind a pot.

 

Basically someone had gone out of their way to clean every single corner of his kitchen, mopped the floors and scrubbed the benches. Sanji ran into the storage room: bags of flour and kegs of fresh water had been stacked neatly along their respective areas, and the storage floor was practically sparkling.

 

Sanji was overwhelmed by the care and effort that had been put into this cleaning. Everything was stacked in the order Sanji preferred it, neatly lined up and easy to count.  It was just the way he‘d want to organize it if he had the free time.

 

There was only one thing missing from his storage room: a single bottle of alcohol.

 

“Marimo," Sanji muttered and the galley door creaked as Sanji turned around. His glare fixed on Zoro, who was stuck on the spot, half-snuck out the door, holding a single swiped bottle of unauthorized booze. "Did you do this?" Sanji gestured to the kitchen, and Zoro grimaced, taking a swig from his stolen bottle.

 

"Yes."

 

Sanji frowned, even though he couldn't bring himself to be mad. He had no idea Zoro even knew how to properly clean an oven like this. Wait. Zoro DID know how to properly clean an oven, right? Sanji held up a finger to signal the man to wait, opening the oven again and checking it for damages, grease and soap remnants. He saw none. He returned.

 

"Why?" Sanji asked, leaning on the counter and glaring Zoro down.

 

Zoro groaned in annoyance, a hint of red creeping to the tips of his ears and around the edges of his cheekbones. The swordsman walked over, frowning as he rummaged through his pockets and slammed down a tiny present on the counter, right in front of Sanji.

 

"This is all I got you for this damn 'chrissmast' thing." Zoro withdrew his hand hurriedly from the palm sized, badly wrapped square. "But Nami told me you bought something really big and expensive for me, so I improvised." Zoro gestured to the kitchen, taking a swig of his stolen booze.

 

 

"What?" Sanji blinked, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "But Usopp told me that YOU got me this really great gift." Sanji crouched, digging through the cupboard and pulling all three bottles of booze on the counter.

 

"You got me booze?" Zoro grabbed one bottle, turning it to read the label. "Really good booze?"

 

"Don't sound so shocked, bastard. I can choose quality alcohol that isn't wine." Sanji flustered awkwardly, avoiding eye contact as he tucked a  cigarette in between his lips, wrestling his lighter out of his pocket to light it. "But I heard you got me something great, so I was going to improvise by making you snacks to go with it."

 

"Snacks sound good. I've been cleaning for three hours." Zoro watched Sanji struggle with his lighter for a moment before he pushed the gift closer to the cook. "Here. Open mine."

 

"Idiot. We were supposed to wait until morning." Sanji frowned, unlit cigarette dangling up and down between his lips as he rolled it around thoughtfully. He was REALLY curious. What did Zoro get him? Zoro replied by pulling the cork out of one of his presents, reaching up to grab a couple of glasses from the shelf.

 

"All the other presents can wait, just open this one already." Zoro pressed the small square into Sanji's chest, and the blond rolled his eyes, peeling the hastily wrapped paper off. Slightly heavy, metallic. Sanji's eyes widened in appreciation when a golden lighter fell into his palm. 

 

"A new lighter." Sanji rolled the lighter around in his palm. It was really nice, and looked moderately expensive too. Sanji tossed his old one on the counter as he flicked the new lighter, lighting his cigarette with a single scrape of the flint. "Just what I wanted."

 

Zoro filled up both their glasses, taking a seat by the counter as he offered one to Sanji. The cook leant over, taking his glass and raising it in a silent salute as Zoro did the same. Sanji grimaced at the strong flavor after taking a swallow while Zoro made an appreciative grunt.

 

"Just what I wanted." Zoro said with acheeky grin, and Sanji grinned back, placing his glass on the counter as he turned to get started on the rest of Zoro's present. The two of them shared the story of their struggle of trying to find something for each other and what they got the rest of the crew.

 

"Here you go." Sanji presented Zoro a plate of onigiri, with the black seaweed cut into the shape of a Christmas tree. "Christmas onigiri, the second half of your present."

 

Zoro inspected the rice from both sides, glancing at the tree behind him before he took a bite, sighing appreciatively as he chewed. After a moment of silent appreciation, Zoro grinned around his mouthful. "I still spent more time on my second half, so I win."

 

"You idiot. Who said I won't be making you more snacks?" Sanji scoffed loudly at that, lighting himself another cigarette with his new gift. "Besides, I got you THREE things. I win."

 

"It's all the same thing!" Zoro argued, already working his way through the fourth riceball.

 

"Still three individual presents,” Sanji hummed, leaning forward on the counter, leering at the other man victoriously. "What are you going to do? There's nothing else for you to clean."

 

For a moment, Zoro seemed to contemplate the question, eyes narrowed as he glared at Sanji, chewing slowly until he seemed to reach some sort of conclusion. Washing one present down with another, the swordsman rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, getting out of his seat and leaning towards Sanji, head slightly tilted as he entered Sanji's personal space.

 

Sanji's mind was reeling, but he didn't move away, fascinated by Zoro's expression and the feeling of another person's breath on his lips. Zoro was moving slow and Sanji could tell that he was being given a chance to back out. But he didn't. His chest felt fluttery, and his heart was beating a thousand times a second.

 

Zoro's lips pressed against his, gentle and calm, lingering on his mouth for just a moment before the swordsman pulled away. Sanji opened his eyes again, and Zoro was watching his reaction. The idiot’s face was red all the way up to his green hair.

 

Sanji cleared his throat, his face flushing red as he avoided eye contact, unable to move from the spot because his knees might have gone just a little bit weak. When he mustered up enough courage to regain eye contact, the swordsman was smirking triumphantly, and Sanji couldn't help but find that lopsided grin infuriatingly attractive.

 

"Tough luck, cook, seems like I win." Zoro teased, his voice unbearably smug.

 

"Like hell you have!" Sanji huffed, grabbing Zoro's shirt and yanking him forward across the countertop and into another kiss, tilting his head and pulling at Zoro's lips with his own. The moment Zoro's lips parted, Sanji pulled back, panting and blushing furiously, wiping his lips with embarrassment. "Now I'm the winner."

 

"I don't think so." Zoro grinned, pushing the alcohol out of the way as he reached out to run a hand along Sanji's jaw and into his hair. "I'm not going to lose this fight, cook."  
  


"Me neither, Marimo." Sanji leant over the counter, lips brushing against Zoro's as he spoke. "Bring it on."

   
  
END

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for Kumiko-sama-chan's ||ZoSan Christmas exchange|| on Tumblr, check it out for more Christmas themed one shots!


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